Christ yesterday and today. Christ yesterday and today_ the

Christ yesterday and today.
“Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, alpha and omega; all times belong to him, and all ages;
to Christ be glory and power through every age and forever. Amen
This ancient prayer of the Church speaks to our hearts this Advent especially as we continue our experience of
mergers and changes to our Church of Euclid. During this Advent time when we experience the tension
between these times: Christ yesterday, Christ today, and Christ to come, we are reminded of the liturgical
hymn: We remember, we celebrate, we believe. Many of us who have already experienced the closing of our
parishes are filled with the memories of celebrations and faith, and community. For those who face the closing
of our parishes in the near future, we are filled with an anticipation that does not quite match the excitement of
waiting for Christmas. Wherever we are right now—it is safe to say that we remember—but perhaps also safe
to say that is difficult for us to celebrate and believe that better things are just around the corner.
And yet in the prayer of the Church—in this season of Advent—we are reminded that Christ is the beginning
and the end, the alpha and the omega, and that all times belong to Him. As a community of faith we are being
asked to believe in a future that we cannot see, cannot be sure of, and find difficulty in embracing. For all the
parishes of Euclid some of the uncertainty has ended. We know our names, we know our new leaders and we
are moving forward. While this brings some sense of control, it does not take away the pain that many of us
feel of having lost our sense of rootedness and belonging to a parish community that we have know and trusted
for much of our lives. We thought this was not supposed to happen—especially in the Church which somehow
was stable and didn’t change.
We celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception this past week. In the reading for the day we heard
Mary speak a simple YES to the angel’s message. Did she understand the full scope of her YES as she spoke
that word? Probably not. She spoke that YES in faith—that she was not alone and that God would be with her
as she walked her journey of faith.
We, as the Church of Euclid, are being asked to speak a word of faith. Each of our parishes has a rich and full
tradition of faith and sharing and caring. Each of us—as members of the Church has been nourished and
formed and called through this rich tradition. We are not being asked to leave our tradition behind. We are
being asked to carry that tradition with us as we form a new experience of Church. We are being asked to carry
this tradition with us as we challenge our new leaders to remember the Christ of yesterday as well as the Christ
of tomorrow. We are in the tension of change. Change brings pain and uncertainty—but it also brings the hope
of something new and better. What a gifted moment for each us. We are called to remember that Christ is the
beginning and the end of all that we do and all we are. We are called to remember that what we are about is
giving glory and power to God through our lives as individuals and our lives together as a community. We are
being given the opportunity to bring Christ to birth here in the community of Euclid in this year of 2009 and in
the year of 2010 and beyond. So whether we are celebrating our “last” Christmas as a community or our “first”
our call is the same: bring to birth the awareness of a God who loves us so much that he becomes one of us—
that we might become one with Him.